Add to FavouritesAbout this Broadcast
Season 2, Episode 5
Sam faces a race against time as he attempts to forget his troubles and focus on an investigation into the kidnapping of a man's wife and daughter. As he picks through the details of the crime, he begins to consider who may be motivated to hold the pair hostage - only for Annie to leave herself exposed when she discovers the kidnapper's true identity. Fantasy drama, starring John Simm and Philip Glenister
General
Movie/Drama
Cast & Crew
John Simm
(Actor)
.. Sam Tyler
Philip Glenister
(Actor)
.. Gene Hunt
Liz White
(Actor)
.. Annie Cartwright
Dean Andrews
(Actor)
.. Ray Carling
Marshall Leicester
(Actor)
.. Chris Skelton
Noreen Kershaw
(Actor)
.. Phyllis Dobbs
Reece Dinsdale
(Actor)
.. Simon Lamb
Lesley Clare O'Neill
(Actor)
.. Mrs Bathurst
Olwen May
(Actor)
.. Mavis Witham
Jonty Stephens
(Actor)
.. Don Witham
Adam Beresford
(Actor)
.. Graham Bathurst
James Peter Wells
(Actor)
.. Mitch Bathurst
Hayley McGroarty
(Actor)
.. Stella Lamb
Alicia Hall
(Actor)
.. Schoolgirl 1
Jodie Hamblett
(Actor)
.. Schoolgirl 2
Cameron Roach
(Producer)
Andrew Gunn
(Director)
Matthew Graham
(Writer)
More Information
Did You Know..
John Simm
(Actor)
.. Sam Tyler
Born:
July 10, 1970
in
Leeds
Best Known For:
Playing Sam Tyler in Life on Mars
Early-life:
Born John Ronald Simm on July 10, 1970, in Leeds. He was raised in Nelson, Lancashire, and attended Edge End High School. He's the eldest of three children. His father Ronald, a local musician, taught him how to play the guitar and together they toured the region's working men's clubs. In 1986, aged 16, John enrolled at Blackpool Drama College, and two years later moved to London to study Stanislavsky's acting methods at London's Drama Centre.
Career:
Simm made his TV debut in a 1992 episode of Rumpole of the Bailey. He also appeared in Heartbeat, TV movie Meat, Dalziel and Pascoe's first drama A Pinch of Snuff, Cracker and the film Boston Kickout. Simm became a familiar face thanks to acclaimed series The Lakes. He went on to appear in such projects as Human Traffic, 24 Hour Party People, Spaced, White Teeth, State of Play and Sex Traffic. Simm's performance as troubled cop Sam Tyler in BBC hit Life on Mars made him a household name. Since then he's appeared in Doctor Who, Mad Dogs, The Village, Mad Dogs and Prey. While continuing his work as an actor, during the 1990s he was also a founder member of the rock band Magic Alex.
Quote:
On why he chose to make Life on Mars: "The mad twist at the start appealed to me. I thought, if I can make that believable I can make anything believable."
Trivia:
He's also played alongside his friend, Echo and the Bunnymen star Ian McCulloch, on albums and live on stage.
Philip Glenister
(Actor)
.. Gene Hunt
Born:
February 10, 1963
in
London
Best Known For:
Playing gruff copper Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.
Early-life:
Philip Haywood Glenister was born on February 10, 1963, in London. Showbusiness was in his blood from an early age, especially as his father, John, is a TV director and his elder brother Robert is an actor. He went to Hatch End Comprehensive School, worked as a film publicist, and later studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama for three years, before appearing in 1990 stage play Mad Forest.
Career:
Glenister's first professional role was as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet at the Lyceum, Edinburgh. He went on to star in Jonathan Harvey's acclaimed play Beautiful Thing at the Bush Theatre in London. On TV, Glenister honed his craft in Minder, Love Hurts, True Love, The Perfect Blue and Sharpe. However, it was roles in Clocking Off, The Hunt, State of Play and Island at War that boosted his profile. On the big screen he has appeared in ID, Calendar Girls, Kingdom of Heaven and Bel Ami. Award-winning BBC drama Life on Mars and its follow-up Ashes to Ashes turned him into a cult hero. He has also starred in the film Tuesday, and on TV in Cranford, Demons, Big School and Mad Dogs. He hosts the series For the Love of Cars.
Quote:
"The celebrity stuff really isn't me. I'm interested in the work: good writing, getting the part and the character right, pleasing the audience."
Trivia:
In 2008, he published a book on 1970s and 80s culture called Things Ain't What They Used to Be.
Liz White
(Actor)
.. Annie Cartwright
Born:
November 05, 1979
in
Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Best Known For:
Playing Annie Cartwright in Life on Mars.
Early-life:
Elizabeth White was born on November 5, 1979 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. She moved to Devon at age nine and then to Liverpool years later, when she went to train at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. Her earliest TV roles were in episodes of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Always and Everyone in 2002.
Career:
In 2003, White appeared in the TV series Teachers. Her first feature film role came the year after in Vera Drake (2004) and she also appeared in TV series A Thing Called Love. She played Annie Cartwright in two seasons of BBC drama Life on Mars from 2006 until 2007 and then played Jess Mercer in The Fixer in 2008. White then went on to appear in episodes of Agatha Christie's Marple, Doctor Who, Line of Duty and New Tricks as well as the films Franklyn (2008), The Woman in Black (2012), U Want Me 2 Kill Him? (2013) and Pride (2014). She also played Lizzie Mottershead in Our Zoo. More recently, she has had roles in The Halcyon, Call the Midwife and Ackley Bridge.
Quote:
On keeping a private personal life: "I like to be invisible anyway but I think it's a wise choice for an actor. The less people know about you as a person, the more they can believe you as someone else."
Trivia:
She teaches yoga.
Dean Andrews
(Actor)
.. Ray Carling
Born:
August 06, 1963
in
Rotherham
Best Known For:
Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.
Early-life:
Dean was born in Rotherham on August 6, 1963. His parents were publicans. He spent 20 years singing at holiday resorts and on cruise ships before his big break came when he successfully auditioned for a part in Ken Loach's The Navigators (2001), a film set in Sheffield.
Career:
Andrews went on to pick up guest roles in the likes of Buried, Clocking Off, No Angels, Casualty, Wire in the Blood and Shameless before landing his dream part as Ray Carling in the critically acclaimed Life on Mars. He played Carling in two series of Life on Mars and three series of spin-off show Ashes to Ashes. Since then, Andrews has rarely been off TV screens. He has starred in Marchlands, The Case, Being Eileen, Vera and Last Tango in Halifax.
Quote:
"I've been so lucky in my career as I was a late starter and I owe it all to film director Ken Loach."
Trivia:
In 2013, he got to sing in his first stage play, Victoria Wood's That Day We Sang at the Royal Exchange in Manchester.
Marshall Leicester
(Actor)
.. Chris Skelton
Noreen Kershaw
(Actor)
.. Phyllis Dobbs
Reece Dinsdale
(Actor)
.. Simon Lamb
Born:
August 06, 1959
in
Normanton, West Yorkshire
Best Known For:
Playing ill-fated Joe McIntyre in Coronation Street.
Early-life:
Reece Dinsdale was born on August 6, 1959, in Normanton, West Yorkshire. He trained at the Guildford School of Music and Drama from 1977 to 1980 then honed his craft on stage in Nottingham, Birmingham and at the Edinburgh Festival. He made his TV debut in 1981 thriller Knife Edge before landing a part in the series Partners in Crime in 1983. He was much in demand in 1984, appearing in an episode of Minder, apocalyptic drama Threads and acclaimed Michael Palin film A Private Function. In the years that followed he paid the rent with a string of projects, including Bergerac, Robin of Sherwood and The Storyteller.
Career:
In 1985 Dinsdale landed a key role in Eric Chappell's sitcom Home to Roost, starring alongside John Thaw. It ran for five years and paved the way for Haggard, ITV's answer to Blackadder, also penned by Chappell. In 1995, he starred in ID, a movie about football hooligans, and a year later landed the role of DI Charlie Scott in detective drama Thief Takers. Other notable projects have included Kenneth Branagh's film version of Hamlet, Conviction, Life on Mars, The Chase and Coronation Street; he appeared in 175 episodes of the Weatherfield soap. Recent offerings have included roles in Taggart and Waterloo Road.
Quote:
"I was more nervous coming on to the show [Corrie] than anything else I've done in my career."
Trivia:
In 2012, he directed the one-off drama The Crossing.
Lesley Clare O'Neill
(Actor)
.. Mrs Bathurst
Olwen May
(Actor)
.. Mavis Witham
Jonty Stephens
(Actor)
.. Don Witham
Adam Beresford
(Actor)
.. Graham Bathurst
James Peter Wells
(Actor)
.. Mitch Bathurst
Hayley McGroarty
(Actor)
.. Stella Lamb
Alicia Hall
(Actor)
.. Schoolgirl 1
Jodie Hamblett
(Actor)
.. Schoolgirl 2
Cameron Roach
(Producer)
Andrew Gunn
(Director)
Matthew Graham
(Writer)
